Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the top four were dashed after Jorginho’s blunder handed Mikel Arteta’s side a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea came close to tying the game when in the final minute Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud both hit the crossbar, as the race for Champions League qualification took another turn. The Blues are still in fourth place after missing out on a chance to leapfrog their Wembley rivals. Read on to know Chelsea vs Arsenal match highlights.
Kai Havertz caught Pablo Mari off guard and charged through on goal in the 10th minute, only to wastefully raise his shot over the bar. In the 16th minute, the midfielder’s ill-advised backpass caused mayhem, with Emile Smith Rowe the beneficiary, ensuring Arsenal’s 3-1 Boxing Day victory over Chelsea was doubled.
That blunder paled in comparison to Jorginho’s frantic backpass into his own net. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was first to the rebound and set up Smith Rowe to finish and Kepa Arrizabalaga did an excellent job of pushing the ball away from his goal line.
Before combining well with Havertz to force Bernd Leno to make a fine save, Mason Mount led the Chelsea response, seeing a shot blocked from Christian Pulisic’s cutback.
In the 36th minute, Arsenal’s winger Bukayo Saka made a mistake by venturing to shepherd the ball out, with England teammate Ben Chilwell drilling at Leno until Mohamed Elneny cleared behind him with Mount lurking. Tuchel made an attacking half-time substitution, replacing Billy Gilmour with Callum Hudson-Odoi and returning Mount to a deeper midfield position.
Despite Pulisic being offside when converting Havertz’s flick-on from Mount’s left-wing corner, Chelsea stayed on top and felt they were level after an hour. A stretching exercise With five minutes remaining, Pulisic’s shot was too close to Leno, who tipped Zouma’s header over the bar before Giroud went close with the follow-up.
Watch Chelsea vs Arsenal match highlights here.
Chelsea 0 – 1 Arsenal
Goals: 0 – 1 Smith Rowe 16
Bookings: Thomas
Chelsea: Kepa, Zouma, Silva, Azpilicueta, Chilwell, Jorginho, Gilmour, James, Pulisic, Mount, Havertz
Substitutions: Ziyech, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud
Arsenal: Leno, Holding, Mari, Gabriel, Saka, Elneny, Thomas, Tierney, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Aubameyang
Substitutions: Lacazette, Bellerin
